Rotary dry shaver having an adjustable shear member



3,360,857 SHEAR MEMBER Jan. 2, 1968 FORTENBERRY ROTARYDRY SHAVER'HA-VING AN ADJUSTABLE 2 Sheets-finest 1 Filed Oct.

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United States Patent 3,360,857 ROTARY DRY SHAVER HAVING AN ADJUSTABLE SHEAR MEMBER Jerry A. Fortenberry, 905 N. Main St., Columbia, Miss. 39429 Filed Oct. 1, 1965, Ser. No. 491,987 Claims. (Cl. 30-432) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An electric razor consisting of a casing having a rotor journaled therein and an electric motor drivingly-connected to the rotor. The rotor has radial arms with longitudinally-aligned radial slots containing longitudinal radial cutter blades which are slidable in the slots and which are urged against the wall of the casing by leaf springs. The wall of the casing has shear openings of graduated size distributed around its area. An imperforate sleeve is rotatably-mounted on the casing and can be adjusted to expose shear openings of selected size, whereby to provide a selected type of cutting action. The guard sleeve has a resilient detentengageable in locking recesses in the casing to hold the guard sleeve in a selected position of adjustment.

This invention relates to electric razors, and more particularly to an electric razor having a rotary cutter assembly.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved electric razor of the type having a rotary cutter assembly, the razor being simple inconstmction, being easy to clean, and providing means for adjusting the closenes of its cutting action.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved rotary electric razor which is very compact in size, which is light in Weight, which is cool in operation,

'andwhich is very inexpensive to manufacture.

A still further object ofthe invention is to provide an improved rotary electric razor which involves a minimum number of parts, which is self-sharpening during its opera- 7 tion, and which provides a smooth and efiicient cutting action, with minimum noise or vibration.

. Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claims, and from the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of an improved rotary electric razor constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a bottom view of the electric razor shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a rear end elevational view of the .elec:

tric razor of FIGURES l and 2.

FIGURE '4 is a front end elevational view of the electric razor of FIGURES 1 and 2.

, FIGURE 5 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical cross sectional view taken substantially on the line 55 of FIGURE 6' is a transverse vertical cross sectional view taken substantially on the line 66 of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 7 is a bottom view of one of the cutter blades employed in the razor of FIGURES 1 to 6, said view being taken substantially on the line 77 of FIGURE 5. Referring to the drawings, 11 generally designates a rotary electrical razor constructed in accordance with the present invention. The electric razor 11 comprises a generally cylindrical main casing 12, said casing being made of any suitable material, preferably, stainless steel or similar non-corroding metal. The cylindrical shell or casing 12 is provided with respective front and rear end spider structures 13 and 3,366,857 Patented Jan. 2, 1968 14, said spider structures comprising radial arms 15 with intervening apertures 16. The spider structure 13 has a central bearing portion 17 and the rear spider structure 14 has a similar central bearing portion 18.

The forward end of the casing 12 is internally threaded, as shown at 20 to threadedly receive the rear portion 21 of a motor housing 22 in which is mounted a conventional small electric motor 23. As shown, the rear end portion 24 of the motor is secured to the rear end wall 25 of the motor housing 22. The forward end of the housing 22 is provided with an electrical connector recess 26 in which is mounted an insulating plate element 27 carrying the spaced parallel contact plugs 28, 28 adapted to interengage with a conventional female two-terminal plug provided with a line cord for connection to the usual electric outlet socket. The terminals 28 are connected to the electric motor 23 through a conventional manually operated switch 29 which is mounted on the front wall 30 of the housing 22 and which is provided with an operating button 31 for opening and closing the switch 29, whereby to control the energization of the motor 23.

The shaft of motor 23, shown at 32 extends rotatably through a central aperture provided in wall 25 and is rotatably engaged through the central bearing portion 17 of frame 13. Shaft 32 has a spline portion 36 which is drivingly engaged with the internally splined bore 37 of the shaft portion 38 of a rotor assembly, shown generally at 39. Shaft portion 38 is provided at its rear end end with a reduced supporting shaft element 40 which is rotatably received in and supported by the central bearing portion 18 of spider frame 14.

As shown in FIGURE 6, the hollow shaft element 38 has its inner bore 37 provided with radial spline grooves 42 which slidably receive corresponding spline ribs on the splined shaft portion 36. The shaft member 38 rotatably fits between the spider frames 15 and 14 so that it is retained against endwise movement while being free to rotate around its axis.

Formed integrally with the shaft 38 are a plurality of radially projecting sprocket arm members arranged in a series of evenly spaced groups contained in common transverse planes spaced along the shaft 38. The radial arms 44 of the spaced groups are longitudinally aligned and are formed with slots 45 which are likewise longitudinally aligned. Slidably engaged with the longitudinally aligned slots are respective longitudinally extending radialy supported cutter blades 47. The cutter blades 47 have straight outer shearing edge portions 48 and are formed at their inner edges with spaced positioning lug elements 49, 49. Designated at 50 are respective bowed leaf springs which are received in the aligned slots 45 inwardly of the respective blades 47 and which have opposing arms 51, 51 engaging on opposite sides of the respective positioning lugs 49, 49, as is clearly shown in FIGURE 5, and bearing on the inner edge portions of the cutter blades 47 to bias the blades outwardly against the inside surface of the shell or casing 12. The cutter blades 47 are formed at their opposite faces with respective pairs of guide ribs 54, 54 defining grooves or guide- Ways 55 therebetween to receive the opposing fingers of the radial arms 44 defined by their slots 45, said fingers being slidably received in the respective grooves 55 so that the cutter blades are guided radially by the grooves 55 and are thus radially movable inwardly at times against the biasing force of the spring arms 51.

The cutter blades 47 are provided with a plurality of air clearance slots 56 and the lugs 49 are similarly provided with air clearance slots 57, whereby to substantially reduce the amount of air resistance presented by the blades 47 as they rotate under the driving force transmitted thereto by the motor-driven rotor member 39.

The shell or casing member 12 is formed with apertures 59, slots 60 and serrated slots 61 distributed around its periphery to receive the bristles of a persons beard so that the bristles can be severed by the rotating cutter blades 47. The bristle-receiving apertures 59, 60 and 61 are arranged to cover substantially the entire area of the casing or shell 12 but are arranged in three groups, varying in size, each group covering substantially one-third of the area of the casing. The size of the respective groups varies in accordance with the required closeness of cut. Thus, the sizes of the apertures are relatively great for the area providing the closest cut, the sizes are less for the area providing the close out and are minimum for the area providing the regular cut. These respective areas are identifiied by the provision of corresponding indicia, such as shown at 64, on the casing. Surrounding approximately two-thirds of the area of the casing 12 is an adjustable guard sleeve member 70 which may be rotated to expose the desired cutting apertures. The guard member 70 is provided with respective front and rear retaining bands 71 and 72, the retaining band '71 being rotatably received in the groove defined between the front edge of casing 12 and an annular shoulder 73 provided on housing 22, as shown in FIGURE 5. The band 72 is similarly rotatably received in a similar annular groove 76 defined between the rear end of casing 12 and an annular shoulder 77 defined on a removable end cap 78 which is threadedly engaged with internal threads 79 provided on the rear end portion of casing 12 adjacent the spider member 14. The guard member 70 is formed with internal rib elements 81, and 81 which are likewise rotatably receivable in respective guide grooves containing the bands 71 and 72, so that the guard member 70 is retained against endwise movement on the casing 12. The guard member 70 is provided with a spring catch member 84 pivoted at 85 to the front edge portion of the shell 12 and biased inwardly so that it is lockingly engageable in respective locking recesses 86 formed in motor casing 22 to retain the guard member 70 in its selected position of adjustment, namely, in the positions required to expose the desired bristle-receiving apertures 59, 60 and 61. The inwardly biased catch member 84 is provided with a finger tab 87 so that the catch member may be elevated to disengage it from a locking recess 86 when it is desired to change the adjustment of the rotatable guard member 70.

In operation, when the motor 23 is energized by closing switch 29, the assembly 39 rotates, carrying the rotary blades 47 around the interior surface of casing 12, so that the bristles projecting through the apertures 59, 60 and '61 will be sheared by the cutting edges 48. The device is held so that the apertures 59, 60 and 61 will receive the bristles. The guard member 70 will of course be set to the position corresponding to the desired close ness of cut, in the manner above described.

After use, the interior of the device may be cleaned by removing the end cap 78, and shaking, tapping or vibrating the device so as to allow the accumulation of bristles therein to drop out through the open end of the casing 12. With the caps 78 removed, and the motor 23 energized by closing the switch 29, the accumulated bristles inside casing 12 may also be blown out by the blower action developed inside casing 12 by the rotating blades 47. Thus, by merely removing the cover 78 and operating the shaver, substantially all the accumulated material inside casing 12 can be readily blown out. After the device has been cleaned the cover 73 is replaced.

As shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 4, the female plug 90 which connects the associated line cord 91 to the shaver is engaged in the recess 26 which is centrally located in the end wall30 of motor housing 22. The plug 90 thus projects substantially axially from the end of the device, so that it in no way interferes with holding the device in proper position for efiicient and comfortable shaving.

In using the device, it is grasped "by "the'user at the guard member 70 so that the selected exposed apertured portion of casing 12 may be applied to the users face.

It will be noted that the generally V-shaped outwardly facing bowed leaf springs 50 exert an outward biasing force on the cutter blades 47, but are yieldable to allow slight inward movements of the cutter blades, as required during the operation of the shaving device. The springs are of substantial strength so that they normally tend to hold the blades 43 with their outer edges 48 in contact with the inside surface of the casing 12, thereby providing a self-sharpening action as the edges 48 rotate around the inside surface of the casing in contact therewith.

While a specific embodiment of an improved electric shaver has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An electric shaver comprising a generally cylindrical fixed casing having apertures distributed thereover, a rotor journaled axially in said casing, a plurality of radially extending longitudinally spaced groups of arms on said rotor, said arms having longitudinally aligned radial guide means, respective radial longitudinally extending blade members slidably engaged in said radial guide means, said blade members having straight outer cutting edges, spring means on the rotor urging said blade members outwardly to bias their straight outer edges into contact with the inside surface of the casing, whereby said outer blade edges cooperate shearingly with the apertures of the casing responsive to rotation of the rotor, an electric motor secured to the casing and drivingly connected to said rotor, said apertures being of different sizes at different locations around the casing, and an imperf-orate guard sleeve member rotatably mounted on the casing and extending partially therearound, said sleeve member being adjustable to expose a selected portion of the exterior of the casing.

2. An electric shaver comprising a generally cylindrical fixed casing having apertures distributed thereover, a rotor journaled axially in said casing, a plurality of radially extending longitudinally spaced groups of arms on said rotor, said arms having longitudinally aligned radial guide means, respective radial longitudinally extending blade members slidably engaged with said radial guide means, said blade members having straight outer cutting edges, spring means on the rotor urging said blade members outwardly to bias their straight outer edges into contact with the inside surface of the casing, whereby said outer blade edges cooperate shearingly with the apertures of the casing responsive to rotation of the rotor, an electric motor secured to the casing and drivingly connected to said rotor, said apertures being of different sizes at different locations around the casing, an imperforate guard sleeve member rotatably mounted on the casing and extending partially therearound, said sleeve member being adjustable to expose a selected portion of the exterior of the casing, and means releasably locking said guard sleeve member at predetermined positions of adjustment thereof around the casing.

3. An electric shaver according to claim '1, wherein said longitudinally aligned radial guide means comprise slots in said arms, and said rotor spring means comprise bowed leaf springs positioned in at least some of the guide slots and bearing between the rotor and the inner edges of the blade member.

4. An electric shaver according to claim 2, wherein is additionally provided a motor housing secured to one end of the casing and a plurality of locking recesses :spaced circumferentially in the outersurface of said motor housing, said means releasably locking said guard sleeve member at predetermined positions comprising a catch member pivoted to the said guard sleeve and spring biased into locking engagement with a selected one of said recesses.

5. An electric shaver according to claim 4, wherein said catch member is provided with a finger tab liitable to disengage the catch member from a locking recess.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Dettle 304e3.6

Nyhagen 30-435 Wint'ner 3043.6

Lussier 30-43.2 X Bulova et a1. 3043.6

Schell 30-43.9

Hayes 3'0-43.S Negri 30- 436 Ressler 30-432 MYRON C. KRUSE, Primary Examiner. 

